Romo: Ripping run-pass ratio is wrong
The Cowboys have run the ball only 41.4 percent of the time this season (including Romo’s scrambles), which ranks 21st in the NFL. After a lot of offseason talk about being more committed to the run – taking advantage of a massive offensive line and three legitimate tailbacks – the Cowboys run the ball a whopping .4 percent more often than last season.
“Yet we’re still leading the division,” Romo said.
Romo isn’t saying that he believes the Cowboys should abandon the run on a regular basis. But he does believe the criticism of Jason Garrett’s play-calling is off base.
“When people talk about it’s time to run the ball more and things of that nature, it’s simply a matter of each game is different,” Romo said. “If a team is consistently going to put an eighth man in the box, you’d be dumb to consistently run the ball 34 times into it.
“It’s all different. You want to be able to do everything well. That way, when a game calls for 45 passes, you do that well. When a game calls for 45 runs, you do that well. Over the course of a season, it ends up equaling out.”
Good point, except for one minor detail: The Packers didn’t consistently put eight men in the box. Romo acknowledged as much when he answered a question about Miles Austin, stating that the Packers played both safeties over the top most of the game.
Yet the Cowboys’ tailbacks still only got 11 carries in a game that was tight until the final 10 minutes.
Tim MacMahon
ESPNDallas.com- Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009
- Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks
- Worked at Dallas Morning News for six years
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